Understanding the

Diversity of Moral
Beliefs: Relativism,
Absolutism and
Pluralism
 What is culture clash?
-a conflict arising from the interaction of people with different cultural values.
 What happens when two cultures clash?
-Assimilation. The process of a assimilation when the two cultures meet often
only happens when one is more advanced than the other and swallow up the
other culture. This eventually leads to complete loss of cultural identity. It
sometimes- like adoption, results in a complete new culture.
 Examples of culture clash.
 An example of cultural conflict is the debate over abortion.
 Wars can also be a result of a cultural conflict; for example the differing views
on slavery were one of the reasons for the American civil war.
 Three approaches
 Ethical absolutists...there is a single standard in terms
of assessments that can be made, and that standard is
usually their own
 Ethical relativists see each culture as an island unto
itself, right in its own world and they deny there is
any overarching standard in terms of which
conflicting culture can be judged
 Ethical pluralists acknowledge that cultures can
legitimately pass judgments on one another and
encourages us to listen to what other cultures say
about us as well as what we say about them
 Ethical relativist—Each culture is right unto
itself, so such practices would be morally
permissible in some countries and morally
wrong in the US
 Ethical absolutists—there is a single moral
truth in terms of which all cultures and
individuals are to be judged
 Pluralists try to find some middle ground (in
some situations this practice may make sense,
less judgmental
 These ethical positions provide a rich context
for understanding the variation of all ethical
theories that Hinman discusses
 Divine command —we ought to do whatever
God wills
Issue is whose God? and does God speak
differently to each of us? or do we interpret the
messages differently?
 Egoism—each person should act selfishly to
maximize self interest
 Utilitarian– Should act in such a way as to
produce the greatest overall amount of
pleasure or happiness
 Kantian ethics —Act in ways that respect the
autonomy and dignity of ourselves and others
persons
 Rights theorists —content that there is a
certain universal moral minimum with which
all people must comply
 Claims of Cultural Relativists
1. Different societies have different moral codes
2. The moral code of a society determines what is
right within that society
3. There is no objective standard that can be used
to judge one societies code as better than another
4. The moral code of our society offers nothing
special
5. There is no universal truth in ethics…
6. It is arrogant to judge the conduct of other
societies, we should adopt an attitude of
tolerance
 Universal Values in Societies
1. Value of protecting the young
2. Truth telling
3. Prohibition of murder

“There are some moral rules that all societies

must have in common, because those rules
are necessary for society to exist.”
 What other universal values or
moral rules can you think of?
 Prohibition against incest
 Personal responsibility
 The proper role of government is to take care
of its citizens
 Everyone should serve their country
 Everyone should obey the law
 Lessons From Cultural Relativism
1. Rests on invalid argument
2. Although it enjoys much appeal
3. Two important lessons
1. Warns us about the dangers of assuming that our
preferences are based upon some absolute
rational standard. They are not. Many of our
practices are merely particular to our society and
it is easy to forget this.
Keep an open mind that
Maybe our feelings about practices, values and
beliefs are merely social conventions—
example homosexuality. Maybe our feelings
are not necessarily perceptions of the truth…
they may be nothing more than cultural
conditioning
There is a certain appeal to cultural relativism,
but there are some major shortcomings to
the the theory. Many of the practices and
attitudes that we think as natural law are
really only cultural products. Need to keep
this in mind if we are to avoid being
arrogant and have open minds